Comments for A Shipwright in Training

Comment on More on the Whitehall 15 by Tom

Tom — Tue, 27 Apr 2010 22:34:47 +0000

A little research on Stephen Roberts gives the very likely connection of a fellow by the same name who was the president of the Empire City Regatta Club in 1858. He supervised the writing of “The Rower’s Manual and Boat Club Register” which is available online in full through Google Books here. There’s dimensions for a 19′ whitehall given in this book as well that would be fine for a builder at the time, but pretty scant for a novice today.

And sure enough, on page xxvi, you find this ad:

Stephen Roberts
Ship Smith
Sail, Race, and Club Boat
Iron and Copper Worker
In General.
Inventor of the steel rudder
For race boats.
Rowlocks and copper stem and scag bands always on hand.
Patent iron rowlocks, which require no wood outriggers;
Rudder irons and all metal work for boats on hand, or made at the shortest notice.
Shop 368 South St, New York.
Tom

Comment on More on the Whitehall 15 by Tom

Tom — Tue, 27 Apr 2010 22:21:51 +0000

Thanks Paul,
I’m forwarding your note on to John as well.
Tom

Comment on More on the Whitehall 15 by Paul Denk

Paul Denk — Tue, 27 Apr 2010 22:16:42 +0000

This reply is for John Jackson. John, if you’re still looking for Whitehall offsets, John Gardner’s book “Building Classic Small Craft” has offsets for both a 14′ and a 17′ Whitehall. I plan to do a glued-lapstrake version, using Iain oughtred’s “Clinker Plywood Boatbuilding Manual” as a guide. I’m currently drawing full-sized plans of the molds from the 14′ offsets in Gardner’s book. The 14′ boat, being intended for sailing, is slightly beamier than the 17′ pulling boat. If you wanted to use the 14′ boat just for rowing, you could reduce all the half-breadths by, say, 5 or 10%. Both books are available through Amazon.com. Good luck!

Comment on Roann relaunched! by The Loftsman

The Loftsman — Sun, 07 Mar 2010 15:28:29 +0000

Well done, she looks the part, and if it looks right it usually is right.

Comment on Plankity plank plank by The Loftsman

The Loftsman — Sun, 07 Mar 2010 15:04:44 +0000

The person that never made any mistakes, never done any work!
Hope you got fixed up, as i am sure you did.

Comment on The Tom Factor by Tom

Tom — Sun, 07 Mar 2010 15:02:53 +0000

Hey there,
the Whitehall ended up being finished by the class after mine. It was a shame that we didn’t get to finish it, but the 6 metre project just took over, and people really lost steam on this boat. You can see photos of her being launched here: http://www.iyrs.org/EducationalPrograms/InsideIYRSBlog/tabid/552/EntryId/94/Launch-Day.aspx
She really came out nicely.

Comment on What's wrong with Madcap? by The Loftsman

The Loftsman — Sun, 07 Mar 2010 14:54:58 +0000

Hi,
They dont make em like they used too, eh, quality craftsmen.

Comment on What’s wrong with Madcap? by The Loftsman

The Loftsman — Sun, 07 Mar 2010 14:54:58 +0000

Hi,
They dont make em like they used too, eh, quality craftsmen.

Comment on The Tom Factor by The Loftsman

The Loftsman — Sun, 07 Mar 2010 14:41:43 +0000

Hi,
Take it from me that the offset book/table is your bible when lofting and it should be corrected and updated if required.
Great read, and using the tom factor you should be timeserved by now?

Comment on Taking lines off the Whitehall by Tom

Tom — Mon, 15 Feb 2010 23:45:45 +0000

Hi Arnis,
Thank you for your note about getting training for building a Whitehall row boat. The shop that I trained at has a 2 year program in boat building, but I think that might be a little more time and money than you are looking to spend. I don’t have my own shop, I work in shops owned by other people.

My advice would be to

1) get a couple of good books on boat building and use them to guide you as you build your boat. Some good books that people I know use are:
- Building the Herreshoff Dinghy, by Barry Thomas
- Building Small Boats, by Greg Rossel
- Boatbuilding, by Howard Chapelle
- Boatbuilding Manual, by Robert Steward
- Lofting, by Alan Vaitsis

2) when you get stuck, see if you can find someone in your area who has built boats to come over and give you advice about how to fix the problem.

The primary difference between home builders and professional builders is that the professionals know how to do things quicker and with less waste. Home builders can make a boat that’s just as good as a pro, but it will take a lot longer and may result in a number of parts that are made twice as you learn by making mistakes.

A Whitehall is a beautiful boat, but it’s going to be challenging. The lower planks have a lot of twist to them, so they’re tricky to fit. Feel free to write with any questions, and I’ll do my best to help out.